The Download: virtual grief meet-ups, and bitcoin mining in Kazakhstan

But the gold rush was doomed from the start. In January 2022, these issues boiled over into mass protests. Within weeks, the government effectively cut miners off from the national grid, bringing the boom to an abrupt end. It hopes it can eventually restore the industry--but the future looks highly uncertain, given the volatility in the global crypto sector. For decades, high-end precision-strike American aircraft dominated drone warfare.